BARCELONA, Spain (Ifra Expo) -- October 14, 2002 -- Quark Inc. today unveiled new workflow design software for Quark Digital Media System (QuarkDMS) that lets publishers design and execute sophisticated process flows, track projects, and define custom graphical workflow templates that control how work flows between people throughout the enterprise. QuarkDMS Workflow Engine provides publishers with the means to design and execute sophisticated process flows. It provides workflow modeling through graphical template design, template storage and installation, routing, notification, monitoring, process control, and task automation to enable consistent and controlled collaborative processes. Parallel workflows can be created that would allow two managers to receive content for approval simultaneously. Conditional workflows allow assets to be routed to different departments depending on their attributes. Manual, semi-automated, and fully automated workflows can be used in any combination. QuarkDMS Workflow Engine features include the ability to route and prioritize jobs, and to automate scheduling of editorial tasks such as previewing, approvals, and changes. It can also be used to schedule production tasks such as proofing, ripping, trapping, arranging, imposition, output, archiving, image file conversion, OPI, and color management - all aspects of the print production process. In addition, the system provides production departments with methods to assign tasks to users and groups, as well as automation for passing work between departments and balancing workloads. "Most publishing environments rely on ad hoc workflow systems that involve the verbal assignment of tasks, manual delivery of components between staff members, and time-consuming methods of tracking and monitoring progress," said Juergen Kurz, Quark's vice president of product management. "We're trying to make that process easier to manage. QuarkDMS Workflow Engine lets you define how work flows through your organization and then automates the process." Users can manage and monitor the status of their tasks using a Web-based interface, or they can work in the QuarkDMS editorial clients. When assets are checked in to the system, the system assigns a workflow to each asset, and QuarkDMS routes the assets to their appropriate user or group. Users receive a visual or auditory notification, and are prompted to accept or reject the task. Accepted tasks are added to their task list. When a user indicates that a task is done, QuarkDMS automatically moves the asset to the next phase of the workflow, thereby avoiding routing errors. Administrators and other users will the appropriate privileges can display a graphical representation of the progress of assets as they move through a workflow. The workflow monitor lets managers spot and clear bottlenecks to ensure that production is kept on schedule. Standards-based technology QuarkDMS Workflow Engine is an Enterprise JavaBeans server that integrates with the QuarkDMS server. It can be extended by adding Java classes, and automated tasks can trigger QuarkDMS action folders or Java classes to perform actions such as converting and exporting articles as XML or PDF files once an asset reaches a certain status. Availability QuarkDMS Workflow Engine can be purchased directly from Quark. Customers in North America who are interested in QuarkDMS can e-mail: [email protected]. In Europe, e-mail: [email protected].